The Daily Source of Urban Planning News
Cash-Strapped Congregations Can't Save Landmark Churches
Another victim of the economic downturn is historic preservation. In New York, a number of churches slated for preservation can't find the funds to keep the bulldozers away.
Green Economy Coming Despite Downturn
Good green jobs are on the way - just not right away due to recession. Stimulus funds - not just from U.S. but many nations are investing in their economies by targeting renewable energy, smart electricity grids, energy efficiency, and more.
Public Places More Necessary In Bad Economy
Jay Walljasper argues that the need for accessible, vibrant public space grows along with the bad times.
Concerns Over Sidelining CEQA
The California Environmental Quality Act is being set aside for a handful of stimulus projects, but even when the project is to the benefit of the community many see the sidelining as silencing much-needed input.
City Financing is Spurring Solar Growth
Municipal financing gives homeowners the ability to install solar panels while defraying the large initial investment. The system is creating a solar boom throughout California.
Canada's "Dirty Secret": Subprime Loans
Its political and financial leaders have long insisted that Canada was insulated from an American-style subprime mortgage crisis. However, a Globe & Mail study reveals that western Canada is facing an "alarming" rate of foreclosures.
How Does Maglev Work, Anyway?
A new sixty-minute TV documentary explains how maglev technology works, and covers the first major accident on a maglev track.
Supergraphics Baron Claims Right to Expression
As the city and activists work to control giant 'supergraphics' posted without permits around the city, the largest poster of posters attempts to claim that it's a free speech issue. His Statue of Liberty banners can be seen across L.A.
BLOG POST
The Copenhagen Approach To "Traffic" Could Transform Your City!
<span style="font-size: small"> <p> Our world and our cities, would be so very different, if all of the Directors of Traffic thought like Niels Tørsløv of Copenhagen - especially if, like Niels, all such Directors were trained as landscape architects. What if the "traffic problem" was about too many bikes, and the "parking problem" was about how to deal with so many bikes overtaking the public spaces and sidewalks? </p>
Replanning the City, Post-Modernism
Stockholm is seeking bids for a redesign of its city center, and the five plans in contention all seek to fix the damage wrought by modernist planning.
Hardscrabble Braddock, and the Mayor That Won't Give Up
Braddock is a town that lost 90% of its population in the aftermath of the steel industry's collapse. NPR's Jack Lyden talks with mayor John Fetterman about his efforts to revitalize the area.
New Director Named to EPA's Smart Growth Office
John W. Frece spend two decades as a reporter writing about growth and development before working as press officer for Gov. Parris N. Glendening. Today, he's a leading force in the smart growth movement.
What Will be the Impact of the "Non-Profit Bubble"?
For years, not-for-profit agencies were relied upon to cover social and housing services formerly provided by governments. Now that municipal and state budgets are drying up along with foundation grants, NGOs are losing their funding sources.
BLOG POST
High Speed Rail-In-America Redux
<p> High Speed Rail (HSR) is the favorite moniker to describe the new era of trains envisioned and partially down-paid by the recent stimulus. The idea, linking major regional corridors via fast trains that rival door-to-door times for air travel and put highways to shame, is a powerful elixir to the crunch of congested highways and airways that represented a failed – or to be more accurate, incomplete - twentieth century vision to satiate America's transport needs. Perhaps this vision, if implemented with undeterred gusto, can renew our perception of travel and convenience while simultaneously reinvigorating our gagged transportation system. </p>
Energy Boom Will Lead To Energy Shortage
$147 per barrel oil prices set off a frenzy of new domestic oil drilling that has all but ceased with $46 per barrel. The drop in natural gas drilling has been even more pronounced. When demand returns, domestic oil and gas supplies will likely not.
Revitalization Falters in Downtown L.A.
The revitalization of downtown Los Angeles took another hit this week, as real estate firm Meruleo Maddox Properties Inc., the largest private landowner in the area, revealed that it may have to file for bankruptcy protection.
Translating the Stimulus: What it Means for Energy
$16.8 billion of Pres. Obama's stimulus package is allocated to energy efficiency and renewable energy. Steve Coll of the New Yorker explains where the funding is going, and what it means.
Brazilian City's Food Security Innovations End Hunger
As part of a special issue on food, Yes! Magazine profiles the Brazilian city of Belo, which has, by working with farmers and communities, put an end to hunger.
Taking Cities Beyond the Greenwash
The idea of sustainability is growing up, and as concerns about the environment take hold in cities from the bottom up, some are calling for a more sophisticated approach to "green" city development, write Anthony Flint and William Shutkin.
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Accelerating Mass Transit
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Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
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Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
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